Really bizarre irrational thoughts

[ponylover]

I really don't know what my mind's doing now - whenever I'm at the stables then I keep thinking "what if I just get into my car and drive away, and leave my pony tied up without any food and water".

This is stupid on an indescribable scale, since I already have a fair few OCD gate-shutting and checking symptoms that mean that I never leave the yard until *everything* is done. But this thought is getting more and more dominating, and it's such a scary one because my pony is my best friend, and completely dependant...and I keep thinking that I'm going to abandon him.

Is there any way I can get rid of it, would consciously trying to substitute it for another thought work, or would I just end up covering up more anxiety?

Confused

Ponylover.

Can someone *please* shut my head up?:mad:

[hoppipolla]

oh no no it's ok don't worry, you are not alone in kinda thoughts that may seem irrational or weird like that. my english teacher back at a-level was talking about them, how you can get this urge to do things just because you know that you kinda have the power to do them and they would have such mad consequences - he was talking about standing up and shouting in a formal room full of people, or jumping in front of a train. and he's not crazy hehe :)

what i'm saying is though, everyone gets these thoughts :) it;s just your mind experimenting i think! but, maybe if you can find things that calm you you might find you don;t worry about the abstract thoughts so much... i dunno. do you find you get them about lots of things?

[looking4answers]

Don't worry this happens to all of us.. Its one thing or another .. its your mind playing with you. Just learn to think about something else ..just blank it and refuse to think that thought and just keep on and stay busy and it will disappear and if it comes back just keep doing what I say refuse to think about it.. Its pretty common with anxiety you think the most wierd things at the weirdest times ,but it subsides so don't worry..Its normal..

[matt1981]

I sometimes get these kind of thoughts and my theory is (im a student I tend to theorise a lot its how we roll) that all of us on this site have anxiety so when an irrational thought pops up such as your thought with the horses our distorted anxious mind latches on to it because it is consistent with our anxiety. After all our anxiety is caused by our distorted and irrational thoughts so when one pops up we tend to believe it and worry about it.

The best thing I think we can do is write down a rational thought to counter the irrational thought such as.

I care about my pony so I would not want to leave him/her tied up without water because that will cause them to suffer and I dont want that so I will not do it.

I really hope that made sense and that it helps :)

matt

[ItWillPass]

I think it helps to not be afraid of our thoughts. In fact, entertain them. I have had the same thought, except about my kids!!!!!!! I used to flip out, and think I was psycho to even have the thought of ditching them cross my mind. But, I tried to entertain the idea, imagine the situation all the way through, and just know it is a thought, not even a desire. Once I did that, the thought left me alone.

[Silverfilly]

Irrational Thoughts

for example
You switch off the TV and go to bed, but wait, the wardrobe doors slightly open. 'I'm sure i closed it this morning.' You get into bed and turn out the light. 'What was that?' A noise you've never noticed before ... 'Did i take the key out of the door? I did, ah good, but only after I'd been to the bathroom. What if someone snuck in earlier when i was in the bathroom and was hiding in the wardrobe and now they're .. ? Oh god, where are they? what was that noise? Oh god, they must be under the bed, i want to get up but if i get up they'll grab my leg, oh sh*t, I'm stuck and if i go to sleep they will attack me.' all the time your mind's flashing from one thought to the next, trying to make sense of what's going on, and all of it is complete nonsense ... except of course for your heart racing, the sweats, high blood pressure and the fact that you can't sleep. And although its a very powerful thing, it's NOT even slightly real, it's 'just a thought' - just a scary story that the storyteller in your head is making up, and a perfect example of what we do to ourselves every single day in life ...

Thoughts are just thoughts, they aren't real! become aware of your thoughts and treat them as just thoughts, not as a call to action or a statement of fact or anything other than stories that the little storyteller in your head is making up for you, you don't need to do anything with them except know they're not real.

My point is, you aren't going to leave the little pony are you? you know that, you know you lock the pony up well at night so why do you take notice of such irrational thoughts, you're in control of them! not the other way round, you know you aren't going to leave the pony without food or water, so ignore such thoughts because they are utter nonsense.

Break the habit of reacting to your thinking, and you'll automatically stop yourself from being pulled this way and that by any number of the 50,000 or so thoughts that we all have each day.

[suzy-sue]

This is an old thread .The person you are replying to wrote their post in 2007 .Im not saying you shouldnt have replied .But you may not get an answer from them &they may not read it .Im sure others will find it helpful tho .Sue